Hardware maker wins at KBIS

Richelieu Hardware just turned a trade-show week in Orlando into a sales update investors had to take seriously: two Best of Kitchen and Bath Industry Show awards in February, then first-quarter revenue of $463.6 million for the period ended February 28, 2026. The company said that was 5.0% above the same quarter a year earlier. (richelieu.com) The split inside that 5.0% matters. Richelieu said about 2.0% came from internal growth and 3.0% came from acquisitions, which means more than half of the increase came from businesses it bought rather than from existing operations selling much more on their own. (richelieu.com) Richelieu is not a household-name appliance brand. It sells the pieces behind the remodel photo: knobs, pulls, sliding systems, cabinet accessories, closet fittings, and specialty hardware used by manufacturers, kitchen shops, and renovation chains. (richelieu.com) That is why the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, the big North American trade show for kitchen and bath design, matters here. The show’s Best of KBIS awards are judged from 50 finalists and are meant to spotlight products that designers, builders, and retailers may actually spec into future projects. (kbis.com) Richelieu’s two winners were very different products aimed at the same room. Its Atipica decorative hardware line took Silver in Style Statement: Kitchen, while its VERTI 840 electric lift for upper cabinets won Gold in Wellness Trailblazer. (kbis.com) The VERTI 840 is the easier one to picture. It is a motorized system that lowers upper cabinets to a reachable height, which turns a standard wall cabinet into something closer to an elevator shelf for people with limited reach, mobility issues, or simply taller storage than they want to stretch for every day. (newswire.ca) The Atipica line plays the opposite game. Instead of hiding hardware, it makes knobs and pulls look like jewelry for cabinetry, which fits the way kitchen remodels have moved toward more visible finishes and statement details. (newswire.ca) Back in the numbers, Richelieu said sales in Canada were $249.8 million, up 3.4%, while United States sales reached US$155.6 million, up 11.3% in U.S. dollars. That tells you the company’s faster lane right now is south of the border, even though Canada is still the larger base. (richelieu.com) Not every customer group was moving the same way. On the earnings call, management said sales to manufacturers rose 6.0% to $408.0 million, while sales to hardware retailers and renovation superstores slipped 1.9% to $55.4 million, with weakness concentrated in Canada. (seekingalpha.com) The catch is that revenue grew faster than profit. Richelieu reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $43.2 million, up 1.9%, and an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margin of 9.3%, while net earnings edged down 0.7% to $25.2 million. (richelieu.com) So the picture is not “housing is booming” or “renovation is dead.” It is a more specific story: builders and cabinet makers are still ordering enough hardware to keep Richelieu growing, acquisitions are adding to that growth, and the products getting attention are the ones that make kitchens look richer or work better for more people. (richelieu.com, kbis.com)